Central building bigger hotel/convention complex
Central Hotels and Resorts plans to close its Bangkok Convention Centre (BCC) in the Sofitel Central Plaza Hotel by the end of 2008 but will soon open a new, bigger convention centre in the heart of Bangkok.
The company says it has already confirmed at least 42 functions at the new facility between next year and 2010. The new centre, to be a part of the Central World Hotel and Convention Centre, will have 54,000 square metres of floor space - 1,000 square metres bigger than the BCC. It will be equipped with the latest technology to enable it to compete with meeting rooms in nearby five-star hotels. General manager Michel Horn said the Bt3.9-billion hotel and convention centre would be built in CentralWorld Plaza, formerly the World Trade Centre, at the Rajprasong Intersection, in the midst of other luxury hotels and high-end shopping complexes. The Bt800-million convention centre will open next year and the Bt3.1-billion Central World Hotel in 2008. Property developer Central Pattana has completed an office tower nearby. Horn yesterday said the group was not sure what it would do with the present BCC once it closed. However, the new convention centre will become the largest meeting hall in Bangkok's central business district. As well as the convention centre, the hotel will have 15 meeting rooms ranging in size from 60-150 square metres. Horn said the 42 functions already booked at the new convention centre were both local and international, involving a total of 65,000 delegates. "In our first year of operations, we expect 40 per cent of our revenues to come from the convention centre and the rest from the hotel and its food and beverage departments," Horn said. The Central World Hotel will be built to conform to the standards of a five-star business hotel and have 505 rooms. Its average room rate will range from US$145 to $200 (Bt5,300 to Bt7,300) per night. In the early stages, it expects an occupancy rate of 45 per cent. To attract business travellers, the hotel will have a "Club Floor", with 145 rooms specifically for businessmen. It will offer special services like a business centre, afternoon teas and snack breakfasts. "Despite being a local operator, we believe our Central brand, which brings decades of expertise in the hotel and convention businesses, will help us to compete with international hotel-chain operators," said Horn.
Suchat Sritama The Nation
|
